Did anyone at BP intentionally set out to cause the largest environmental catastrophe in US history? Probably not. More likely: Hundreds of small “economic decisions” were made without considering that they were “ethical decisions,” too.

Do codes of ethics* help? Not really say Bazerman and Tenbrunsel because those codes often reinforce the illusion of ethical behavior (like an immunity idol perhaps)—or because financial incentives create “motivated blindness.”

As communicators, we can’t control all of the decisions our organizations make. But we do have an obligation to shine a light on the ethical dimension of those decisions while they are being made.

We must be the conscience in the conference room. And given the lapses of ethical behavior that consume today’s headlines, I can’t think of a more important role for communicators to play.

*Not surprisingly, “Blind Spots” reports that the codes of ethics of S&P 500 companies are strikingly similar. In fact, the average company repeats 37 sentences word for word.